M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Vestments for the Priesthood
28 “Then bring near to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him, from among the Israelites, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.(A) 2 You shall make sacred vestments for the glorious adornment of your brother Aaron.(B) 3 And you shall speak to all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with skill, so that they make Aaron’s vestments to consecrate him for my priesthood.(C) 4 These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, and a sash. When they make these sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests,(D) 5 they shall use gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen.
The Ephod
6 “They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, skillfully worked.(E) 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8 The decorated band on it shall be of the same workmanship and materials, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. 9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,(F) 10 six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11 As a gem cutter engraves signets, so you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; you shall mount them in settings of gold filigree. 12 You shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.(G) 13 You shall make settings of gold filigree 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.
The Breastplate
15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work; you shall make it in the style of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it.(H) 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span in length and a span in width. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald shall be the first row;(I) 18 and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire,[a] and a moonstone; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel; they shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.(J) 22 You shall make for the breastpiece chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, 23 and you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24 You shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece;(K) 25 the two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.[b](L) 27 You shall make two rings of gold and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its joining above the decorated band of the ephod. 28 The breastpiece shall be bound by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may lie on the decorated band of the ephod and so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a continual remembrance before the Lord.(M) 30 In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the Israelites on his heart before the Lord continually.(N)
Other Priestly Vestments
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.(O) 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around its edge, like the opening in a garment,[c] so that it may not be torn. 33 On its lower hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, all around the lower hem, with bells of gold between them all around— 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe. 35 Aaron shall wear it when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he may not die.
36 “You shall make a rosette of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’(P) 37 You shall fasten it on the turban with a blue cord; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take on himself any guilt incurred in the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as their sacred donations; it shall always be on his forehead, in order that they may find favor before the Lord.(Q)
39 “You shall make the checkered tunic of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.
40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics and sashes and headdresses; you shall make them for their glorious adornment.(R) 41 You shall put them on your brother Aaron and on his sons with him and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.(S) 42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh; they shall reach from the hips to the thighs;(T) 43 They shall be worn by Aaron and his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not bring guilt on themselves and die. This shall be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants after him.(U)
The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers
7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.(A) 2 Now the Jewish Festival of Booths[a] was near.(B) 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing,(C) 4 for no one who wants[b] to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)(D) 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.(E) 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.(F) 8 Go to the festival yourselves. I am not[c] going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Booths
10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but, as it were,[d] in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.”(G) 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.(H)
14 About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”(I) 16 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.(J) 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.(K) 18 Those who speak on their own seek their own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing unjust in him.(L)
19 “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?”(M) 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”(N) 21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. 22 Because of this Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.(O) 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?(P) 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”(Q)
Is This the Christ?
25 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?[e] 27 Yet we know where this man is from, but when the Messiah[f] comes no one will know where he is from.”(R) 28 Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him.(S) 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”(T) 30 Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come.(U) 31 Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah[g] comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”[h](V)
Officers Are Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.(W) 34 You will search for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.”(X) 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?(Y) 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me, but you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,(Z) 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As[i] the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart[j] shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”(AA) 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit[k] because Jesus was not yet glorified.(AB)
Division among the People
40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.”[l] But some asked, “Surely the Messiah[m] does not come from Galilee, does he?(AC) 42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah[n] is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”(AD) 43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
The Unbelief of Those in Authority
45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived, too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?(AE) 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus[o] before and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”(AF) 52 They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”
The Woman Caught in Adultery
[[53 Then each of them went home,
Parental Advice
4 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain[a] insight,(A)
2 for I give you good precepts:
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender and my mother’s favorite,(B)
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments and live.(C)
5 Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget nor turn away
from the words of my mouth.(D)
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.(E)
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight.(F)
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.(G)
9 She will place on your head a fair garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”(H)
Admonition to Keep to the Right Path
10 Hear, my child, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.(I)
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.(J)
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.(K)
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.(L)
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.(M)
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.(N)
20 My child, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.(O)
22 For they are life to those who find them
and healing to all their flesh.(P)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.(Q)
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.(R)
25 Let your eyes look directly forward
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Keep straight the path of your feet,
and all your ways will be sure.(S)
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.(T)
Law or Faith
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!(A) 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?(B) 3 Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?(C) 4 Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing.(D) 5 Well then, does God[a] supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?
6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”(E) 7 so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would reckon as righteous the gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the gentiles shall be blessed in you.”(F) 9 For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”(G) 11 Now it is evident that no one is reckoned as righteous before God by the law, for “the one who is righteous will live by faith.”[b](H) 12 But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law[c] will live by them.”(I) 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”(J)— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.(K)
The Promise to Abraham
15 Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will[d] has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.(L) 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;[e] it does not say, “And to offsprings,”[f] as of many, but it says, “And to your offspring,”[g] that is, to one person, who is Christ.(M) 17 My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.(N) 18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise, but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.(O)
The Purpose of the Law
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring[h] would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.(P) 20 Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one.(Q)
21 Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. 22 But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through the faith of Jesus Christ[i] might be given to those who believe.(R)
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous[j] by faith.(S) 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.(T) 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.(U) 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.(V) 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,[k] heirs according to the promise.(W)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.